Along the Edge of America
by Jenkins, Peter
pub. by Mariner books - Houghton Mifflin Co - 1995     isbn 0-395-87737-7
319p. - - adventure/travel
The author is better known for his book -A Walk Across America-. He decided to visit the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and to to the journey by boat. He buys a boat and learns how to operate it, then over 2 years travels the Gulf of Mexico from the Dry Tortugas at the end of the Florida Keys to Freeport, Texas. His sprint to the mouth of the Rio Grande is un-documented. He stopped for considerable lengths of time in southern Florida at Goodland, then at a fishing camp on the Wakulla River near the more inland Perry, Florida. His next long stop was inland, up the Alabama River from Mobile Bay, Alabama to Wilcox County where he experience Southern hospitality in its classical sense. The next major stop was New Orleans, followed by Cameron, Louisanna at the western edge of the State. In Texas he stopped at Chambers County on the NE side of Galveston Bay, and again in Freeport. He spent some time in Seadrift, TX and was nearly hijacked near Aransas Bay. After that the trip comes to a rapid close - probably by way of a sprint for the last 160 miles or so to the southern tip of Texas. If you are interested in the adventure and travel parts of the book, skip the first 78 pages, after that it becomes very interesting as Jenkins soaks up the individual life stories of some very interesting people. Interestingly most of his informants are people with deep roots where they live. This is an interesting book which describes a time as much as a place, in the United States of America.
~ 2007 ~

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